(AM) — The world's major international ecumenical bodies are proposing joint work, meetings and even a merger in the near future, signifying “an appetite for renewal and reform” within these bodies, according to Rev. Stephen Kendall, principal clerk of the Presbyterian Church and chairman of the finance committee at the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. “Primarily, it's an expression of the unity of the church,” said Kendall.
WARC is in the midst of working towards a possible merger with the Reformed Ecumenical Council. With more than 80 million Protestants, the new global body would be named the World Reformed Communion. Representatives from both councils met in February, and received unanimous recommendations to move forward. Talks about merging first began in 1998. All current members of both agencies–which includes the PCC–would automatically become members of the new body.
WARC is also discussing the possibility of holding its general council meetings (held every seven years) with the Lutheran World Federation and possibly the World Council of Churches. The idea was raised at WCC's General Assembly in Brazil in February.
Kendall, who will be at the November meeting of LWF and WARC in Geneva where the proposal will be discussed further, said while the merger with REC would be an “organic union,” the joint meeting with LWF is simply “looking towards the possibilities of working more closely together.”
This “appetite for renewal” is due, at least in part, to “the financial realities that force these bodies to be efficient in how they do their work,” said Kendall. “But part of that efficiency is about leaning towards greater unity,” he said, noting that reformed churches have historically been chosen to be very separate entities.
The Caribbean and North American Area Council, a regional arm of WARC, could be affected, although exactly how still remains to be seen. If WARC merges with REC, it would likely become a regional body of that organization, said Kendall, and could possibly gain more members from the additional churches that would belong to the new body.
